Cheap solution for expensive Blu-Ray drive?

I was looking on ebay for accessories for my new Z and came across these drives. Would these work as direct replacements for our DVD drives?

NEW Blu-Ray Drive for HP laptops - eBay (item 170491173520 end time Jun-24-10 18:54:19 PDT)


Just a thought...

Cheers,

David

 

I bought my BD-RE drive from here:

Panasonic Mata lenovo UJ-242 UJ242 UJ-242A blu-ray - eBay (item 120568904579 end time Jun-11-10 02:15:02 PDT)

Send him an offer

 

It must be a really good offer b/c if its close to the blu-ray from sony i'd rather have ordered it when I optioned out the laptop...

 

In my case...I couldn't buy the Z configured with the Blue Ray burner (no CTO in Hong Kong and no preconfigured models with Blue Ray) so I didn't really have a choice. Good luck!

 

Yah I just figured if we could find a cheaper drive that fits right in, it would be a no brainer vs the $500 OEM drive...

 

I don't know if you'll find a cheaper drive that fits right in. The drive in the Z is thinner/smaller than most Blu-ray drives, hence the hefty price tag. That one selling on E-bay I think is the model used in the Z. What you might do is buy an external USB Blu-ray drive. Should be much cheaper. I've been looking for a good one...

 

Please post here with what you end up with. I'd really like to get that slim bluray drive though... perhaps we could find them on ali baba

 

Probably not. In order for the drive to fit, two things have to match. The interface and the thickness have to match. If your current drive is SATA, you can't put an IDE drive. If your current drive is 9.5mm, a 12.5mm drive won't fit. The seller doesn't mention the drive model number but it looks like that it is a 12.5mm drive. Your Z requires a 9.5mm drive.

However, you can use the drive if you don't mind to use it as an external drive. You just need to buy an external casing for it or buy a drive that comes with it.

 

That HP drive can only read BR and not write BR.

 

I'm thinking external so I can switch between my two computers - plus the price is better. This guy has some, though it seems his stock changes often:

items - Get great deals on DVD RW Drive, Blu-ray Combo Drive items on eBay Stores!

 

hi ota-con,

just want to ask if the original z117 optical drive front bezel perfectly fit your UJ242 drive, many thanks.

 

The UJ242A is the exact drive that Sony uses on their new VPC-Z models which come with the BD writers from factory (be it preconfigured or CTO).

So yes, you can buy those without worries since Sony themselves use them.

Strange, considering the UJ242 is a Matsh!ta Panasonic and Sony do have bluray manufacturing capabilities (though not in a 9.5mm form-factor I believe). If you ask why Sony is using Panasonic drives on their top-line machines, my older Z which has a Mash!ta DVD drive went belly up when the black central wheel fell off the motor's drive shaft. I'll have to send it in this Thursday, hoping they have just that black wheel part and won't have to resort to switching the entire drive (which will just take longer).

Basically, Matsh!ta drives are cheap, which from any corporation's point of view is the way to go (and unfortunately too for a flagship laptop).

 

thanks for the answer, 5ushiMonster.